We made this with some fabulous rainbow chard from one of our best friends’ vege patches. So simple and super tasty.

Wine Suggestion: Find a youthful Tempranillo with little or no oak influence, juicy fruit and not too much extraction (tannins). Chill it for 30 minutes and enjoy. Our choice, the Paco Garcia Rioja Seis.

Heat a large shallow casserole over a high heat. Put 1 tbsp of oil into the pan along with the pork and sear for 5 minutes, turning over halfway (you can cut it in half if it fits easier).

Remove the pork from the pan, then add the fennel seeds, peppers and chard to the fat left behind. Stir fry for a couple of minutes before pouring in the chickpeas and their juice. Season, stir well and bring to the boil. Nestle the pork in to the chickpeas so that it’s touching the bottom of the pan and pour over any juices from the plate. Cover and simmer gently for 12 minutes or until the pork is just cooked through, turn the pork over now and then as it cooks.

Rest for 2 minutes, then slice the pork and check the chickpeas for seasoning. Add a splash of red wine vinegar and a drizzle of oil before serving.

We cooked this just before we went on holidays and were determined not to buy any ingredients that needed used up. We have a huge sage bush in the garden that we definitely under-utilize and there are always bottles of all sorts of beverages lurking in the back of our cupboards. Madeira lasts forever, even when opened which is very useful.

Wine Suggestion: The madeira sauce with the sage is richer than you may expect and we find it works with juicy Côtes du Rhône reds, especially with a good dollop of Grenache. We had an uncomplicated Reserve des Armoiries which was juicy and had hints of Southern French spices made without oak; complimentary and almost celebratory of our impending holiday with its joyful fruit.

Pork tenderloin with madeira and sage – serves 4

butter

1 pork tenderloin c. 400g

100ml madeira

a small bunch of sage, leaves picked and chopped

Heat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/Gas 7.

Heat a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan. Season the pork and brown really well on all sides to form a crust. Add the madeira then transfer to the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the meat from the pan, cover with foil and leave aside to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, reduce the pan juices with another knob of butter on a low heat, and season.

To serve, cut the pork into thick slices, then dress with the pan juices and lots of chopped sage.

A light and tasty stir-fry to use up bits of veg leftover from the weekend. Feel free to use what you have rather than the suggestions below and prep all the ingredients before you start as this takes minutes to cook. Serve with rice or noodles.

Wine Suggestion: If you can find it, the Zind Humbrecht Muscat Grand Cru Goldberg 2013, was an amazing match. This is a truly astonishing wine that confounds the stereotype of Muscat because of the terroir and winemaker, being fresh, vibrant and dry. Alongside the ginger and soy this danced a fine line of complementary and contrasting flavours.

Ginger Pork Stir-fry – serves 4

25g root ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks

1 tbsp finely grated root ginger

2 tbsp sunflower oil

200g pork fillet, trimmed and sliced into 5mm slices

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed/grated

150g carrots, peeled and finely sliced

150g purple-sprouting broccoli or small broccoli florets

1 red or yellow pepper, finely sliced

75g kale (stalks removed), shredded

2 tbsp sesame oil

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp roughly chopped coriander (leaves & stalks)

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, add the sliced ginger and boil for 1 minute, then drain.

Get a wok or a large frying pan smoking hot, then pour in the oil and stir-fry the boiled ginger for 30-60 seconds, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Add the pork, garlic, grated ginger and carrots. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the pork is cooked, then add the broccoli and peppers.

Keep frying for another minute, then add the kale and toss for briefly to wilt.

Finally, add the sesame oil, soy sauce and chopped coriander. Toss together quickly then serve over rice or noodles and garnish with the crispy ginger.

This was such a tasty weeknight dinner inspired by a half-used jar of tandoori curry paste and a packet of supermarket naan breads. Ditch the naans for gluten-free burgers.

Wine Suggestion: A juicy Spanish, or Spanish varietal, should work here. There are some great and good value Garnacha’s, like one made by Bodegas Monfil, which are perfect when on a budget. If you want to push the boat out choose a ripe and juicy Ribera del Duero made from Tempranillo. Our favourite of the moment is the Carmelo Rodero and try their 9 Mesas for the juicy youthful fruit. Older and more concentrated Crianza’s and Reserva’s would overwhelm the dish.

Tandoori pork burgers with tomato & coriander raita – serves 4

500g lean pork mince

1 red onion, grated

2 tbsp tandoori curry paste (we like Patak’s)

a small bunch of coriander, chopped

150ml natural yoghurt

2 tomatoes, chopped

4 scallions, sliced

naan breads, to serve

Little Gem or Cos lettuce, to serve

Put the mince, onion, curry paste and half the coriander in a bowl, season with mix well, then form into 4 burgers.

Barbecue the burgers for 4-5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Meanwhile, mix the rest of the coriander with the yoghurt, tomatoes & scallions.

Serve the burgers in some warm naan breads (we toasted ours on the barbecue) with the crispy lettuce and raita.

Our favourite way to eat this pork is carved as thin as possible and stuffed into crusty bread rolls with some mayonnaise and salad. You need to marinate the meat the night before.

Wine Suggestion: Rich, round and white plus you have to make sure there is a good freshness too to cope with the pork fat. Naturally a good, oaked Chardonnay calls out but we’ve also tried some more unusual wines like the Adi Badenhorst’s Family White which is an amazing blend of 10 grapes from the Swartland in South Africa. It’s quite like a St Peray white in style with hints of aromatics, stone fruit and crisp apples alongside a rich nuttiness and layers of texture. A bit of a wine anoraks wine but we love it.

2kg loin of pork, off the bone with skin removed and about 1cm of fat left on

6 garlic cloves, sliced

3 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

4 rosemary sprigs, leaves chopped, plus more for the roasting tin

about 8 bay leaves

Lay the pork on a board with the flesh side up. Pierce all over with a sharp knife and fill the holes with the slivers of garlic. Rub the fennel & rosemary all over the flesh, along with some olive oil, pushing some into the holes with the garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper. Made a bed in a roasting tin with rosemary springs and bay leaves and put the pork on top with the fat side down. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/425ºF/gas mark 7.

Tie the loin at intervals with kitchen string, not too tight. Put into the roasting tin fat side up on top of the herbs (make sure the herbs are well tucked under or they will burn) and cook for 25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4 and cook for 1 hour 40 minutes, basting occasionally.

Take out of the oven, cover with foil and rest for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Have you got your barbecue out yet? We’ve had a few sunny days in Dublin and the cold breeze is gradually starting to ease; the clocks have gone forward and we’re looking forward to much more time spent outside. We have to confess to using the barbecue all year round and have been caught out in the snow or rain grilling up a feast and this is one of our favourite ideas. Nothing beats some good chips with your souvlaki.

Wine Suggestion: to celebrate the Spring sunshine we broke out a Provence rosé from Chateau Vignelaure, a lovely and serious wine that delivers a great texture and structure as well as summer fruit flavours to inspire us.

Pork Souvlaki with Oregano – serves 4

400g pork shoulder, cut into 3 cm cubes

30ml lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 small garlic clove, grated

½ tsp salt

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the meat. Marinate for an hour or so, then thread onto skewers. Cook on a preheated barbecue for about 10-12 minutes.

A delicious paella recipe by Tamazin Day-Lewis (inspired by Sam & Sam Clark of Moro). This is easy to cook and uses relatively cheap ingredients. It has already appeared on our table a few times since this picture was taken.

Wine Suggestion: This dish is full of flavour so you will need a similarly flavoursome wine. A Spanish red from Ribera del Duero would make a great match.

Paella with Pork, Chorizo and Spinach – serves 4

7 tbsp olive oil

340g pork fillet, halved lengthways and sliced into strips

110g mild chorizo, cut into small pieces

2 large onions, finely chopped

1 large green pepper, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

225g calasparra rice

1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika

4 piquillo peppers (we like the tinned Spanish ones)

850ml hot chicken stock

500g spinach, washed and drained

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Heat the oil over a high heat in a paella or large frying pan, then stir-fry the pork strips for a few seconds so they are still undercooked. Season with salt and pepper, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.

Lower the heat and fry the chorizo for a minute. Add the onion and green pepper and cook for 20 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir the rice into the pan and toss for about a minute until coated with oil. Season with salt and pepper, then add the paprika and peppers followed by the hot stock. Simmer for 15 minutes or until there is just a thin layer of liquid around the rice.

Meanwhile, wilt the spinach briefly in a pan, then drain and remove it. Scatter the pork over the rice followed by the spinach and gently push them partly into the oily liquid using the back of a spoon. Turn the heat off, then cover the pan tightly with foil and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve with the lemon wedges.